And it looks as if he's about to get it.

A Los Angeles Kings official said yesterday that Murray would be introduced today as the new head coach during a news conference at the Kings' training facility near Los Angeles, the Associated Press reported. Murray will succeed Marc Crawford, who was fired last month after 2 years as head coach.

Kings general manager Dean Lombardi said in a statement earlier in the day that no agreement was in place with Murray, but added, "We have met with Terry on more than one occasion and we consider him to be a strong candidate for this position."

Murray could not be reached for comment, but Flyers general manger Paul Holmgren said Lombardi, a former Flyers scout, had asked for permission to talk with Murray.

"I'm not sure where they are in the process," Holmgren said. "The last I heard they were heading down that road [to naming him coach], but I'll hear at some point."

Murray brought a lot of experience to a very turbulent situation when former coach Ken Hitchcock was fired in October 2006 and assistant John Stevens was named the coach with only a month behind an NHL bench.

"It [will be] a loss, for sure," Holmgren said. "Anytime you lose a guy with that experience it's hard to replace. But if it happens, I'm extremely happy and excited for [Murray]. I think he deserves another chance and he deserves another opportunity to be a head coach in the NHL. I think it's great for him."

This will be Murray's fourth stint as an NHL head coach. He started behind the bench of the Washington Capitals in 1990 and in 1994 was replaced at midseason.

He was hired by the Flyers the next season and led them to the 1997 Stanley Cup finals, when his team was swept by the Detroit Red Wings.

During the series, Murray commented that he felt his team was in a "choking situation" and was fired as a result.

Murray, who turns 58 on Sunday, became the general manager of the Florida Panthers in 1998-99 and took over that bench when Doug MacLean was fired at midseason. He later worked as a Flyers pro scout and developed a relationship with Lombardi, who was a Western Conference scout for the Flyers.

He was brought back to coaching during Hitchcock's tenure as an "eye in the sky" coach and then moved to the bench. He was instrumental in helping Stevens through his first 2 years as the Flyers' new head coach.

"In that first year when [Stevens] took over for Hitch, John leaned on [Murray] a lot. Last year, [Stevens] was probably not leaning on [Murray] as much because [Jack] McIlhargey was an experienced guy and we brought Joey [Mullen] in," Holmgren said. *